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Things to Definitely Not Do if You Want to Become CEO

Things to Definitely Not Do if You Want to Become CEO

Today we have a guest post from Nate Miller, a part-time guest-blogger. Make sure to follow him on his business intelligence blog.

For every UK TV show that was successfully remade for US television, there are many that didn’t make the grade. Did you see the US versions of The Inbetweeners, Coupling or Skins? Probably not, since they were all abruptly pulled from the airwaves after just a few episodes after the concept failed to translate. But then there’s The Office, NBC’s comedy juggernaut that ran for a whopping 201 episodes, and was based on the BBC show of the same name, which had a far more modest 15 episodes. The US version of The Office detailed the exploits of the employees of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and their hapless manager Michael Scott (played by the excellent Steve Carell). Michael Scott was an excellent example of what not to do when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, with his endless smutty jokes and childish battles with his staff. The road to management and ultimately being a CEO isn’t as straightforward as it might seem, and there are many career trajectories that can land you at the top. There are, however, many things that can be done to ensure you’ll never reach the CEO’s office. So what are things you really need to avoid if you ever want to become a CEO?

Lack of Reliability

Sometimes life gets in the way, and despite our best efforts, there are missed buses and traffic jams, but chronic lateness is a most undesirable trait, and while management and co-workers might be sympathetic, they will definitely notice and note frequent late arrivals at work and to meetings. The same goes for delivering work on time – give a realistic time-frame as to when you can actually complete something, and if there needs to be any amendments to the deadline, let the relevant parties know! It’s not such a big deal to need more time to complete something, but it shouldn’t be a surprise.

Lack of Credibility

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Own up to any issues, rather than attempting to pass the buck and blame someone else. Working within a company is collaborative effort, and your superiors will be impressed if you take ownership of a problem and go above and beyond to rectify the issue. You need to be trustworthy within a corporate environment, and this goes to a personal level as well it’s never a good idea to gossip about a colleague, since getting a reputation as the office gossip is a great way to stop your career progression in its tracks.

Lack of Open-Mindedness

“No” isn’t a word that should be used unless absolutely necessary. Management doesn’t want to hear that something simply can’t be done, particularly when staff are dismissive of an idea without properly thinking it through and possibly finding an alternative path to the desired end result. Keep an open mind when presented with new tasks and challenges, even if it’s a vastly different issue or process than usual. It’s too easy to get caught in a corporate rut, and only think that there’s a single way to achieve goals. It’s a cliché, but you really should think outside the box.

Being a positive problem solver is really the best way to advance to your goal of CEO; being a negative drone who needs to be guided at each and every step goes against the mindset evident in most successful CEO’s. Doing the best job you can will allow you to advance through the ranks, eventually landing that corner office and being able to pass on your wealth of information to those who now answer to you.

This has been a guest post from Nate Miller, a part-time guest-blogger. Make sure to follow him on his business intelligence blog.